Zhang Yang

    nicolezyyy@163.com

    FLOWERS, gifts and sweet moments composed many people’s memories of yesterday, which was Valentine’s Day. But for Zhang Ling, owner of a flower shop near Jingtian Station in Futian District, yesterday was one of the busiest days of the year.

    “We’ve increased our flower inventory 5 to 10 times since a few days ago,” Zhang said, adding that several hundred bouquets of flowers had been sold over the past three days.

    A single rose was priced at 15 yuan (US$2.18) in Zhang’s flower shop yesterday, which was a 50-percent price hike compared with 10 yuan on regular days. “We purchased flowers from florists in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and they raised their prices 10 days before Valentine’s Day,” Zhang said, adding that the transport cost of flowers had also been driven up by the Spring Festival travel season.

    After doing the flower business in Shenzhen for 15 years, Zhang and her four sisters now own five flower shops in Nanshan, Futian, Luohu and Longhua districts.

    According to Zhang, consumers are getting more rational now compared with years ago, when they were willing to pay thousands of yuan for a bouquet of flowers. “Now we sell bouquets with prices ranging from 200 to 500 yuan,” she said, adding that red roses are still the most popular flower on Valentine’s Day.

    Apart from fresh flowers, many people prepared expensive gifts for their loved ones yesterday. According to a report released by the dating website, jiayuan.com, men in Shenzhen spend an average of 1,161 yuan on gifts for their lovers on Valentine’s Day or anniversaries, while Shenzhen women spend an average of 978 yuan.

    A previous survey conducted by feidee.com showed that over 70 percent of respondents said they would spend Valentine’s Day with their loved ones this year, while 59.1 percent preferred spending the day at home and nearly half of respondents said that they would spend less than 200 yuan on the day.

    Yesterday was also a big day for new couples who registered for marriage in Shenzhen. According to sznews.com, all of the 80 slots reserved online for marriage registration at the civil affairs bureau in Luohu District were snatched up yesterday.

    Many couples who failed to get a slot online have been queuing up outside the bureau since 8 a.m. yesterday so that they could register to get married without an online reservation. There were 38 couples lined up at the bureau to wait for marriage registration as of noon yesterday, according to the report.